MSI Megaview 588 digital media player

Listening to music on the move is rather passé now; if you want to be at the cutting edge, video is the latest thing.

The MSI Megaview 588, however, caters for both without being overly bulky or expensive.

The 3.5in screen can display video at a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels, which is good for a screen of this size. It handled fast-moving video without any blurring and images were reasonably bright.

The 20Gb hard disk (enough for about 5,000 songs and 50 hours of video) is a reasonable size for the price, although a 30Gb iPod video costs just £15 more.

The Megaview 588 supports a variety of file formats including MPEG4, DivX, all popular digital image formats, such as JPEG and TIF, and Windows Media Video 9.
The Megaview can also record audio or video using the supplied composite cables, although recording resolution is limited to 312 x 324 pixels.

Unlike the more expensive Archos PMA400 media player, the Megaview 588 cannot record shop-bought DVDs from a DVD player. It will record unprotected discs, such as those you've created yourself, though.

The video recording cable also doubles up to connect the Megaview 588 to a television for watching videos and photo slideshows on a bigger screen.

There's a remote control to navigate media files from afar and a tripod stand. But, as the infrared sensor is positioned on the bottom of the player, it's is not possible to use both at the same time.

The Megaview 588 supports MP3, WMA and WAV music formats, which is more than the iPod. Sound quality was good but it won't playback any bought-music from the iTunes or Napster online music stores.

This model includes an FM radio that can store eight stations. FM broadcasts can also be recorded, as can voice recordings using the internal microphone.

Files are transferred from a computer using the USB socket, which will also connect to digital cameras and other storage devices using a supplied adapter. In this way, files can be copied directly to the Megaview 588.

There's also a slot on the top of the player for SD and MMC memory cards, from which files can be copied to the Megaview 588.

MSI has thoughtfully included the software driver for computers running Windows 98. It won't synchronise with Windows Media Player 10, though.

Battery life runs to around five hours for video playback and recording and seven hours when listening to music. The battery is removable so it's possible to carry a spare.

Comparisons will be made with the better-looking, more desirable video iPod, which offers and extra 10Gb for about the same price but if you want to record media on the move and listen to radio out of the box, the MSI Megaview 588 has the edge.